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National briefs: Beef recalled in 3 stores
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DODGE CITY, Kan. -- At least three major grocery store chains are recalling certain packages of ground beef due to possible E. coli contamination.
The recalls at Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., Publix Super Markets Inc. and Kroger Co. mainly in the southeastern U.S. stem from meat from National Beef Packaging Co. of Dodge City, Kan.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday that National Beef was recalling more than 60,000 pounds of beef after the Ohio Department of Agriculture found the bacteria.
The recalls affect products sold mainly in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee, but the meat could have been distributed nationwide.
The agriculture department says there have been no reports of illnesses. The company says it's investigating.
ATLANTA -- Metal railings rained down onto a heavily traveled interstate in downtown Atlanta from a landmark bridge late Saturday night, narrowly missing vehicles on the key corridor and shutting off traffic both ways for hours during the night, authorities and motorists said.
No one was reported injured when the aluminum fencing and canopy supports for a pedestrian walkway on the bridge crumbled above the main Downtown Connector shortly before midnight, said Karlene Barron, communications director of the Georgia Department of Transportation.
She said inspectors determined early Sunday that the 17th Street Bridge remained structurally sound but it appeared a secondary structure of aluminum fencing and walkway canopy supports atop the bridge had given way in one area.
She said the debris fell over the northbound side of the Downtown Connector about where Interstates 75 and 85 meet.
Ms. Barron told AP later Sunday that traffic was again flowing in both directions after sunrise.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- A loophole in law doesn't require workers hired at most power plants to undergo FBI background checks even though a federal report warns the plants are a likely target for terrorists, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday in unveiling legislation that would change that.
Mr. Schumer cited a recent Department of Homeland Security that found disgruntled former employees have sensitive inside information that would be sought by terrorists. The report also says current employees have been solicited by unidentified outsiders.
In the fall of 2010, al-Qaida urged recruits to take jobs in potential terrorist targets such as power plants where they could inflict significant damage and chaos quickly and easily, the federal report said.
His bill would require FBI background checks on all employees of major power plants, Mr. Schumer said.
WORTHINGTON, Ohio -- A 94-year-old Ohio woman who woke up to discover that a breakaway blimp from a nearby airport had landed in her backyard said she heard a bang during stormy weather but didn't realize what happened until police knocked on her door about seven hours later.
The 128-foot-long blimp broke free of its moorings at a Columbus airport during strong winds early Sunday, then drifted to the sky, headed eastward and landed in Lillian Bernhagen's backyard in Worthington, less than two miles from Ohio State University's Don Scott airfield. No one was aboard and no injuries were reported.
-- Compiled from news services
First Published August 15, 2011 12:00 am
